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Ep 41: Just Keep Rising

In this episode, Lisa talks about one of the best pieces of advice she’s been given, and how it’s changed the way she moves through life. She shares her thoughts on how we can push through the negative thoughts that start to crop up when we’re changing the way we do things, and becoming our best and most authentic selves.

Hey guys, welcome to another episode of the Podcast. A short and sweet episode for you today, and this episode comes at the request of the beautiful Amelia from the Small Steps membership. I passed a comment onto her a little while ago, and I’ve shared it a few times since, and she said, ‘You really need to share this with more people Lisa.’ So, here I am, sharing it on the Poddy.

The concept came about because time, and time, and time again, as I see women stepping up – stepping into taking a new kind of appreciation for themselves, for what they’ve achieved in their lives, as women, as mothers, whatever it might be.

They’ve come into the Small Steps world because they want something to change. They’re unhappy with what their family is eating, how they’re feeling, how overwhelmed they are, how stressed out they are. The health of their family, whatever it is.

They want something to change. And inevitably, they start to rise, because they start to feel empowered. Because taking small steps is a really great way to create behaviour change. I get contacted, still now, about Small Steps to Wholefoods, which was the eight-week program I ran for two-and-a-half years, about how it changed their life.

The next thing that starts to happen, after they’re feeling pretty groovy, feeling empowered. Even if it was just food as the beginning, they start to look around at other aspects of their life, and it starts to unsettle the people around them.

It’s unsettling for people who are stuck to be around people who are moving in a new direction. Who are feeling a bit more inspired, who are feeling like they can start to see where the stuckness is coming from. And sometimes, it’s our relationships with the people around us.

I was given this advice, I don’t know, two years ago, maybe. When I felt like me succeeding at creating something of my own from scratch, loving everything about what I was doing, how I was helping people, the communities I was creating. I mean, it was like a drug, and it still is. You guys are the reason why I show up, and why I absolutely love what I do.

But that’s unsettling to people around us. People who aren’t super-happy in the job that they’re doing, or the career that they’ve found themselves in. Whether they’re a stay-at-home mum and you’re a working mum, or opposite. You know, grass is always greener, right?

But when we start to rise, it’s easy to say, ‘Oh, no one appreciates the food I’m cooking. This is really unsettling for everyone else. They just want it to go back to the old ways.’ Whatever it is. Or, you start to get snide remarks from people about how you’re changing, even although you were glad for those changes, suddenly you’re questioning the changes. It’s not nice to feel that uncomfortable kind of feeling.

This piece of advice was given to me, and it was, ‘Just keep rising.’

A beautiful friend, Nicole, gave me that advice. She said, ‘Lisa, just keep rising.’ And I now share it with Small Steppers. I share it with women who are jack of the status quo, but who find it really hard to change things, because we are naturally wanting to serve and protect, and be loyal to the people around us.
Not many of us love making waves, and causing disruption. You know, sometimes it can make other people feel worse about themselves. Most of the time when we see people doing really well, it triggers something inside of us. You know, especially us Australians are terrible at that whole Tall Poppy thing.

But what are we going to do? Are we just going to stop? Are we going to remain where we always have been, which was not particularly cool with us? Are we just going to stay stuck? Are we not going to chase our dreams? Are we not going to improve the health of our families? Sometimes, things to need to get disrupted in order to be able to break through to the next stage.

That beautiful saying – break down to break through. Oh man, I hate that saying, and I hate that I’ve seen it to be true so many times. But really, who are you not to pursue your full expression of yourself in this life? Who are you to play small? Who are you to protect everybody around you from your amazingness? Who are you not to pursue amazing health?

Who are you not to dream a little bit outside of the box about what other jobs, or careers, might be out there that make you feel lit up, instead of draining every ounce of you? Who are you to start saying no to extracurricular activities with your kids, because you just can’t keep up?

You are that person, you can do it, you can say no. Because you’re not meant to go through life feeling like a piece of shit, feeling like you do all things for other people and you never come to the top of the pile.

You need to rise, and keep rising, even if it makes other people feel uncomfortable.

Because I bet, if you have kids, you look at your kids and you just want them to be their fullest selves. To have the most adventures, to feel amazing, because you breathed life into them, you created them. So let’s do this thing called life. I bet your parents think the same way about you.

You know, we’re here, not for very long, and we can create an exceptional life if we give ourselves permission for things to get a little bit uncomfortable. And if we give ourselves permission to just keep rising. I believe you can. I believe it’s your duty, and Amelia, I hope I did this saying justice in the Podcast, and that I’ve communicated exactly what you wanted me to.

I mean, in the context of my own life, this just plays out, and plays out. You know, sometimes it’s me I’m battling against. It’s me who says, ‘Lisa, a good mum doesn’t do daycare three days a week. It’s two days!’ And I have to allow myself to keep rising, for things to feel uncomfortable, for things to change – so that I can grow into the fullest expression of Lisa.

I have to know it’s OK if growing my own business, working for myself, not going into an office, ruffles other people’s feathers. I’ve got to be cool with that, I’ve just got to keep rising. There are so many people to serve in the world. There are so many people who need my special, and your special, something.

Even if it’s our immediate families, and they’re the ones who will benefit from you being your most amazing self. Because you just kept rising. Even if it didn’t make sense at the time, even if you didn’t know where you were going. You followed what felt good, and you kept going, for you. Just for you. Really, we need to look back and think, ‘No one gave me a great life, I created one for myself.’ And I did it.

You know, I will do it in the context of being a mum and a wife, and I know I can, and I know they all want it for me too. Everyone around you wants it for you, they just might have funny ways of saying it or expressing it. So, that’s it. A short and sweet – keep rising.

Lisa Corduff

Lisa Corduff inspires modern women to take small steps towards a healthier, happier, simpler life via her online programs, membership and podcast.
She has a perfectly imperfect life and is helping women all around the world to ditch the impossible standards, be kind to themselves and live life on their terms.

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About Lisa

Lisa Corduff inspires modern women to take small steps towards a healthier, happier, simpler life via her online programs, membership and podcast.
She has a perfectly imperfect life and is helping women all around the world to ditch the impossible standards, be kind to themselves and live life on their terms.